WEBVTT

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Christ is born. Christ is born. We have spent

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40 days preparing for this day, fasting, praying,

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meditating upon the coming of the Creator to

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His world and fulfillment of everything that

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Israel and the Jews believed. And now we are

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here to celebrate this day. Sometimes I wonder,

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after it's done, the celebration is done, how

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much of Christmas, how much of Nativity has made

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an impact, how much the cross has made an impact

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in our life, how much the resurrection has made

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an impact, or the teaching about the Trinity,

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or the two natures of Christ, divine and human.

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Because until those things are very well established

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in our souls as not just teaching, but as a way

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of life, The Christian life and our relationship

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with Jesus will seem very external to us. On

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Christmas, yes, we offer God something as the

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wise men did. We offer him our life. But we also,

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before we can do that, have to come to him to

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be reborn continually, spiritually. We have to

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then, as the wise men... went around Herod at

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the end of that story. We have to learn how to

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go around our sins and our passions. We have

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to have Christ born in us anew, not just a Christmas.

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But every time we come to church, this is our

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constant prayer, I want to tell you a story.

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It's not very Christmassy, but I feel compelled

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to tell you this. It was about the year 305.

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in a well -to -do city of Asia Minor called Nicomedia.

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It was an imperial city. And the Christians,

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by that point, had grown. There were many thousands

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and thousands, over 20 ,000 Christians in the

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city of Nicomedia by the year 305. And persecutions

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had pretty much stopped in other places. of the

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empire. But a new governor, just like you read

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in Genesis, a new pharaoh came who knew not Moses,

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who knew not Joseph. A new governor came with

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instructions to stamp out Christianity, the Nazarenes

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in Nicomedea, because they would not offer incense

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to the Roman state gods. and therefore they were

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unpatriotic and could not be relied upon. They

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were subversive. They were atheists because they

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wouldn't accept the gods. And through the month

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of November in that year, Christians, important

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Christians in the city government were rounded

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up and they were given a choice, the usual choice,

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offer incense and be put to death. Or it will

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give you a more important position in the city.

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Much more power, much more prestige. If you will

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only, you don't have to believe, if you will

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only offer to the gods. But they wouldn't. So

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Christians were being killed. On Christmas Day,

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in 305, Christians were celebrating, Orthodox

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Christians were celebrating the nativity in the

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church. Thousands of them, because it was a very

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large church in this place. Unusual, but it's

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true. And as they were celebrating the liturgy,

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the governor told his soldiers to stack up wood

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all around the outside of the church. And if

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they had a megaphone, a bullhorn, they would

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have said, come out or we're going to burn you

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down. And the Christians knew that they'd come

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out. They would be killed anyway because the

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last threat of a worldly tyrant is death, right?

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That's all he can do to you. Jesus said, don't

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fear those that will kill the body, fear those

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that will kill the soul. And the bishop in the

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church cried out to the people. He said, brothers

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and sisters, Let us take this God -given moment,

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this opportunity, to pray as the three children

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did in the furnace, to offer glorification to

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our God. Praise Him, sun and moon, stars and

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light, frosts, ice, rain, waters, people. And

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they began the divine liturgy. And the wood was

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stacked up outside the church, and the fire was

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started. And everyone received communion. It

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took five days for the church to burn down. And

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it is said in the life, in the Synaxare, the

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lives of the saints, that by the end of that

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week, not just because of the fire, but because

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of the persecutions earlier, 20 ,000 Christians

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had perished. And when the faithful that were

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hiding came out and they walked amidst the ruins

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of the burned -down church, they didn't smell

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the stench of human flesh, but they smelled sweet

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-smelling myrrh. I'm telling you this story not

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because it's anything like Jonestown and that

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crazy thing in Guyana where everybody drank a

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poison Kool -Aid. No one was planning to be a

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martyr that day. I'm not telling you this story

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because it's some kind of cult story to show

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you how terribly weak we are. I'm telling you

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this story to be inspired that when we come into

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the church, we are coming to praise the God who

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redeemed us from that kind of cruelty, that kind

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of injustice, that kind of horror of this world.

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Because he is the God of love. He is the God

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of justice. He is the God of abasement and humility.

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Those who sang in the church, who partook of

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communion, they sang the glories of the Lord

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who would redeem them. They said, let us make

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necessity of death a virtue and become martyrs

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for the Lord. And we celebrate their memory on

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the 28th of December every year, although they

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perished on Christmas Day. I tell you this, this

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story, so you can evaluate your own love of God,

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your own love of worship. If now we were threatened

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with this church burning down, I would probably

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say, my goodness, we've just spent $7 ,000 on

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that. Let's go out and just save the day here.

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But you know what? Tyrants and those who hate

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God destroy the whole thing. You can't join their

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side. You can't be on their side. If you are

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not with me, Jesus says, you are against me.

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So let us always be with Christ. never afraid

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of anything in this world. I want to read you

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now a short hymn Father Michael handed me because

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it's relevant to what I just said. Rejoice, O

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faithful! Make ready for the feast of the birth

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of Christ. The King of kings comes to live with

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his servants. You see, whether we live or we

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die, We are with the Lord. Behold the most wonderful

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mystery. The cave will become heaven. The virgin,

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the throne of God. The manger, a room where Christ,

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the Savior, will be laid in swaddling clothes.

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When you look at the icon, the fresco of Nativity,

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you see Christ, swaddling clothes, wrapped just

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as he would be, laid in a cave after he was taken

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down from the cross. Already we see the prefigurations

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of why he came, not just so the angels could

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tell us the news, but so that he would come to

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die and rise and raise us up with him. Come,

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people, slow of heart. Cast away the veil of

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sin that lies upon your heart. Recognize the

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Maker who comes to dwell among us. Let us make

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ready to praise him and say, Blessed art thou,

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O Lord. God of our fathers, praised and glorified,

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and supremely glorified into the ages, for Christ

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is born. For Christ is born. Let us all sing

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with all our soul and with all our mind. Let

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us sing.